Near Death
by Hunay-Senpai
Summary: While Investigating Mello's death Near and Halle uncover disturbing details left unsaid in previous documents
1. The New L

Near Death

Chapter one

The new L

All my life I had been living in his shadow it was much like an artist painting on a canvas, one which had already been placed in a magnificent frame. In order to surpass him I was expected to be no less than perfect, no less than a masterpiece. My name is Nate Rivers but you can call me Near.

Near sat motionless in what would appear to be an uncomfortable position Which was now practiced out of sheer impulse. One leg placed on his chair, bent in such a way that it jabbed into his stomach. Multiple studies have shown this unattractive posture to actually stimulate the brain and allow the thought process to be active and fluent. As he sat he stared at an empty Monitor Which covered one of the four walls that supported the ceiling. Three weeks is how long it has been since a new case was even considered to be sent to the new and promising L.

Three long weeks since Near had been able to stare at blown up images of autopsy or forensic reports. Like a surgeon has the nearly non-stop urge to perform surgery so does a detective have a similar urge to detect. Of course only the seemingly impossible cases are even sent in for trial to be considered "L" worthy. With that being said it would not be that hard to believe that Near, L, the greatest detective known to man was not exactly the busiest person in the world. It was quite the opposite.

Adding onto the comment made earlier, I must contrast by saying that unlike surgeons it should be made apparent that the more skilled a detective you are the less you are given the opportunity to do that which you have become so advanced in. Of course Near knew this but even with a logical mind such as his he still acquired a childish trait of hope. This was something that the current and the previous L had in common. In fact the previous L and the current L had a few things in common. Probably the most recognizable would be their posture, Always slouched and of course the way they sat.

Although that might have differed slightly seeing that the previous L Brought both knees up and placed his body in a kind of fetal position. But of course I mustn't linger on this subject for you see the previous L's character arc isn't one that needs to be developed. In fact, the only thing about the previous L that needs to be made known is that which made him previous. The previous L was killed by the most infamous serial killer ever to exist, Light Yagami, but most commonly known as Kira. Kira is the name of a goddess of birth who was lost to insanity and later became the goddess of death.

However, the name Kira is more often referring to the angel and messenger of the devil. And he was indeed worthy of the name. By the time he himself was killed thousands had died at his hands. He need only a face, name, and pen to do this. He wielded the most powerful murder weapon known to ever exist. The Death Note.

Near could not help but think about this on a day-to-day basis it was something not only he but the entire world should be afraid of. After all it happened once, and even though the chances are slim, it could happen again. But it wasn't just that, he had other reasons, more personal reasons as to why he thought about it every day. Although he would never admit to it or talk about it, he lost someone very special to him. someone he loved that was taken away from him by Kira, that was why he couldn't forget, why he never spoke to anyone about anything that didn't involve work, how could he.

At that moment someone interrupted the silence as they opened the door and called in a hushed voice "Nate?".He looked to the door and saw Halle Lidner one of his many agents and co-workers. Out in the field Halle was a cold, serious and almost unfeeling person, but not around Near, the relationship they shared was a strange one, one that allowed both of them to open up. But opening up doesn't always mean they enjoyed one another's company, in fact Near almost always rebelled against Halle's innocent attempts to comfort him. "I thought I made it clear the last time you barged into my office that I would appreciate it if you knocked, and don't call me by my first name". Halle ignored the harshness in his voice, rushed to the side of his chair, and said in a happy-go-lucky tone, "come on Nate It's just me besides I thought you might need some cheering up". She lifted up a small tray, which held a decadent tea set consisting of one pot and two small tea cups with gold trim.

"What would make you think I need cheering up" he asked impolitely. "Well you've just been acting a little off lately and I thought you might like some herbal tea to cool things off". "Well I'm fine don't bother yourself with my emotions" Near said staring at the floor with a blank expression. "You know... I miss him too Nate" she said looking at him with sympathy. Nears eyes narrowed as he sat up straight.

"Get out!" he shouted. This was completely out of character for Near, he was always so quiet and calm."I didn't mean to offend you I Just-"he cut her off in mid- sentence "I said get out!". She placed the tray on a table and walked out the door. "it wasn't her place, she has no idea what I went through, she had no right" he thought to himself. He bit his lip trying to fight back the tears but they could not be held in.

Suddenly the silhouette of a man appeared on the massive monitor in front of him "L we are in need of your services" he quickly pulled himself together and wiped his eyes. "Finally another case" he thought. A page opened onto the screen with the information collected on the case. He read the first line and was surprised. "This is a suicide case it would appear to me this puzzle has already been solved" Near said to the dark figure. "We don't make mistakes sir, I assure you this is worth further investigation". He scanned through the files and something caught his eye. The name of the jumper was "Misa Amane".

**Authors Notes:**

**I promise there will be more dialogue in future chapters. Please review and critique Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of the not at all cheesily name "Near Death" series.**


	2. Puzzles

Near Death

Chapter 2

Puzzles

"Misa Amane…" he knew that name he just couldn't recall where in his history he had retrieved it from. "Misa Amane, age twenty-seven, accused of being the second Kira, All charges against her were lifted after ten days of surveillance and intense interrogation," the man on the screen read aloud. Near felt a chill roll down his back. "The **second** Kira?" Near thought to himself. "In what way did she kill herself?" The silhouette paused for a moment and then said, "She fell off a bridge into speeding traffic".

After taking in the details he had just learned he realized why her name was so familiar."What did you tell the press?" Near asked almost automatically. . Misa Amane was a famous model/actress so Near knew that the press would be all over this case. "We distracted the media by claiming it was an accident, that she was driving her car and popped a tire so she pulled over then was hit by a passing vehicle causing her to be flung off the bridge" the man on the screen explained. "You know that won't last long, I assure you the press will dig deeper and deeper and once they realize there is no evidence for that fable of yours they will jump to conclusions left and right". "Of course sir, we are prepared for any and all questions they might have" the man said reassuringly.

But this in no way settled Nears nerves, he has dealt with celebrity cases before and it just makes it that much harder to investigate. "But sir some of us have reason to believe it wasn't suicide" The silhouette said in a hushed voice as if it were a secret no one else in the SPK had the right to know. "What would make you suspect that?" Near asked loudly as if to remind him he was the only one in the room. Without warning a picture of Misa Amane's crushed corpse appeared on the screen. A car had hit her torso and legs after she had fallen onto the street and it would appear as if though she had fallen off the bridge on her side.

Near understood immediately why one might think it was suicide but any trained forensics specialist or detective knows that 81% of all jumpers dive headfirst. "Well this is odd, but it doesn't prove your theory". Another photo of Misa's body appeared on the screen this time a side shot. Near gasped, there was a bullet whole, the object had completely penetrated one side of her skull, but based on other photos there was no exit wound. There was no way she could have shot herself in the side of the head and fallen the way she did. And according to another recent study four out of five women that commit suicide using a gun shoot themselves in the heart."I need an autopsy report as soon as possible check for any other signs that might lead us to her attacker" Near said in a raised tone of voice.

"But sir," "what is it?" Near asked, "There is one more thing we need you examine". Another window popped up covering the previous images. It was a note written on loose-leaf paper.

"Takada may have been his world but he was my life and he

Didn't do anything wrong or

Kill anyone without good reason he was justice and maybe I am just

Mellow dramatic but Light means more to me than life itself".

"It was found in her pants pocket, our guess is that whoever killed her forced her to write this, we have made out various phrases that could be hidden inside of it but none of which appear to have any significance to the case".

Near read it once and could already solve the obvious riddle. It is the first word in each line he thought to himself. "Takada didn't kill Mellow" Near thought aloud. "Exactly, but what does that have to do with the case?" the man on the screen said. "It doesn't matter, I'll figure this out on my own, all I need now is an autopsy report" Near said as he lowered his head and began to twirl his longish white bangs. "Yes sir I understand" the man responded.

The monitor then made a clicking noise as it went black. The printer began to run off all of the photos and collected data. Near stumbled out of his seat to retrieve the papers. "Takada didn't kill Mellow, Mellow as in _Mello_?" he thought aloud. He placed the papers on the table next to the tray that held the no longer hot tea.

Near grabbed a cup and began to pour the chilled liquid. Near knew that whoever wrote this note had intended for him to see it. In addition, the fact that Misa had been accused of acting as the second Kira made it even more likely to reach him. "Takada didn't kill Mello". As he sipped at his tea, a tear he had managed to hold in escaped his eye. "Mello".

**Authors Notes: **

**Yes, I realize that in the original story Near knew that Misa was the second Kira. However, for my story line to flow correctly I had to make him completely oblivious to it. And I promise to explain why he didn't know about it in Ch.3 **

**Please feel free to criticize, or compliment if you are that kind of person, any feedback is good feedback especially during the early development of a story.**

**I hope you enjoyed reading the second chapter of the not at all cheesily named **

"**Near Death" series.**


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